Red Cross allocates funds for flood-hit Caprivi

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has allocated almost US $74,000 for relief efforts in the flood-hit areas of Caprivi in northeastern Namibia. The water level in the Zambezi had almost reached the seven-metre mark on Tuesday and was reportedly rising at the rate of some 10 to 15 cm every day, threatening further flooding. Razia Essack-Kauaria, secretary-general of the Namibia Red Cross Society, told IRIN that the current level was more than two metres higher than at the same time last year, when the river burst its banks and displaced 12,000 people. "This year's floods have already affected more people," she said. "Kabbe and Katima constituencies, located in the low-lying areas along the Zambezi, which flows along the eastern border of Namibia's Caprivi strip, have been submerged." The organisation dispatched 128 tents, 50 jerry cans and 52 mosquito nets to the regional capital, Katima Mulilo, at the weekend, while a delegation from the Zimbabwe Red Cross was currently purchasing water purification tablets, jerry cans and mosquito nets for initial support to 1,000 families. According to the Red Cross, which heads the national Land and Shelter Committee, constituted by the Namibian government to monitor the relief efforts in the area, thousands of people will have to be evacuated. Essack-Kauaria said a Regional Disaster Response team deployed to the area was assessing the situation, along with government's Emergency Management Unit and the United Nations Children's Fund. The Red Cross team reported that children were using canoes to go to school. Health and food security issues were also being raised. "The HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in the area is 43 percent. There is fear that contamination of water sources will provoke an outbreak of waterborne diseases and malaria, deepening the vulnerability of people living with HIV/AIDS," Essack-Kauria said. "Most of the population of the area rely on subsistence farming and chronic food insecurity prevails in the region. The flooding threatens this year's harvest." Essack-Kauaria pointed out that wildlife also posed a "real threat in the area. Large numbers of elephants in a state of panic are on the loose, destroying crops. Hippos, crocodiles and snakes are also a threat to the population," she added. Caprivi governor Bernard Sibalatani told IRIN that several families would have to be evacuated, "but we have not been able to make a proper assessment, as most of the submerged areas are inaccessible by road." He said the authorities expected to have figures of people in need of evacuation and food aid later this week.